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Memories of Audrey Hepburn still alive in Swiss town where she's buried

On any given day, the laid-back Swiss village of Tolochenaz is abuzz with activity. Arriving by busloads or trekking across the fields, tourists flock to a small cemetery surrounded by farmland and vineyards.

TOLOCHENAZ, Switzerland — On any given day, this laid-back Swiss village is abuzz with activity. Tourists arrive by busloads or trek across the fields to a small cemetery surrounded by farmland and vineyards.

Nestled among the graves is a simple stone cross that marks the final resting place of one of the world's most famous actresses, Audrey Hepburn, who would have turned 86 this month. Yet, the memory of an old conflict still lingers here decades after her death.

The screen legend who starred in Breakfast at Tiffany's and won an Oscar for Roman Holiday, spent the last 30 years of her life in Tolochenaz, a hamlet of 1,800 residents about 30 miles east of Geneva.

Before she died of cancer in 1993, she expressed a wish to be buried in the village's cemetery, situated almost directly across from her sprawling 19th-century house.

Hepburn's grave attracts thousands of visitors each year from across the world, but local residents remember her simply as "Audrey" or "Madame Hepburn" — a gracious neighbor and tireless humanitarian, who traveled the world on behalf of UNICEF.

"She never acted like a celebrity. She was very simple and friendly," recalls Christine Demont, who often saw Hepburn walking in the village or shopping at an open market in the nearby town.

Audrey Hepburn appears in a photo from the 1961 film, "Breakfast at Tiffany's."(Photo: AP)

Many here also remember the controversy that had shaken sleepy Tolochenaz several years after the actress's death, sparking a conflict between some residents and Hepburn's two sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti. (The two grew up in the village but now live in the USA and Italy, respectively).

At the center of the contention was an old two-room schoolhouse behind the cemetery that villagers converted into a small museum dedicated to Hepburn's work as an actress and UNICEF ambassador.

The sons donated some of their mother's belongings — her Academy Award, photographs, original film posters and other personal items — with the understanding that these objects would be on loan for only five years. When the time came to give the memorabilia back, the villagers became angry because they realized that without these exhibits the museum would have to close.

The sons also objected to what they saw as over-commercialization of their mother's memory, such as the sale at the museum of "Audrey Hepburn chocolates" or lavender from her garden. "This whole thing got out of hand," Ferrer told the villagers at the time.

The coffin of actress and UNICEF Special Ambassador Audrey Hepburn is carried by her sons, Luca Dotti, from left, and Sean Ferrer, as well as her companion, Robert Wolders, right, during her funeral on Jan. 24, 1993, in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. Hepburn, then 63, died of cancer on Jan. 20.(Photo: Michel Gangen, AFP/Getty Images)

They, in turn, countered that all the proceeds from the sales were donated to various children's charities that Hepburn herself would have approved.

"It was very upsetting," Demont, who sometimes volunteered at the museum, says of the conflict. "We all wanted to preserve Audrey's legacy, but we couldn't see eye-to-eye."

Emptied of its contents, the museum did close, amid much bitterness, in 2002. Old grievances still lingered, with villagers divided into two camps: those supporting the sons and others thinking Ferrer and Dotti acted unfairly by taking back Hepburn's belongings.

"We worked so hard to get this museum off the ground as a tribute to Audrey, but we lost it all," says another resident, Marie Oberson.

There is also the third camp — those who believe that, for Hepburn's sake, old resentments should be put to rest. So a decade after the museum's closing, residents gathered in the center of the village to dedicate a small sculpture of the actress, a gift from her sons that was unveiled by Dotti.

The conflict over the museum still comes up in conversations here, but mostly it is the bronze bust, a simple grave and warm memories of Hepburn that form the legacy she left in the Swiss village she had called "home."